I just joined the club today. The entire PF needs to be stripped. PF looks good, but is way too dirty for my liking. I'm a STERN newbie so expect a bunch of stupid questions over the next few months like how do I take off the lockbar!

I'm hoping to re-energise this club!

I've read through every NASCAR titled thread on Pinside. Even the stuff as far back as 2012. Based on what I've read the biggest add-on mod is the tachometer which doesn't really seem to work well or at least it is very sporadic. There hasn't been many threads on switching this pin over to LEDs. No conversations about toppers people have made (except for the Budweiser case). There some great stuff on switching out the bash toy with a real 1:43 scale model, but it sort of died out. There's a nice sticker add-on to the DMD area, but the sizing is incorrect. No mods on converting the truck into a real truck???

This pin seems to be hard to find parts for too. I've got a cracked right ramp and everyone seems to be sold out. Cliffy doesn't make any protectors for this pin and it's got one of the largest mouths after the flippers of any pin out there.

I'm a little disappointed. I am a NASCAR fan, and want to fix and then bling out my new pin but there doesn't seem to be much out there for it. Am I looking in the wrong places?

Oh, my first newbie question:

1) On the translite I have Rusty in the Miller Lite car, but on the side of the pin the decaling shows the Rusty logo on the car. The Miller logo is no where to be seen. Is this the way all NASCAR pins are or do I have a mismatched pin?

2) Oh, and a second question… It this pin wrapped in a decal or is it silkscreened? I'm thinking silkscreened. I haven't looked at it closely enough to tell yet. Thought I'd ask.

I have a led ocd board in my f-14 sys11 pin. I love it, and will be doing the same for Nascar. It's a fantastic product!

The double spots are very cool. Until I get the led ocd board I'll be playing with the lights on so I won't be adding and spots for now.

There are some sling plastics up on ebay. Not much else. So what do you guys do if you have a ramp break on you? Oh and does anyone have these installed? I'm having trouble visualizing how they fit on and where. I didn't see one post with about them.

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/502-5041-47

There are actually 3 of them listed on Marco. If you do a search on Nascar they all come up. I've never seen anyone talk about them.

Guys, I'm not familiar with STERN. How do I lift the PF? It doesn't seem to be hinged. What does it rest on when it is fully upright? The backbox?

[EDIT] Found the manual. There is a step by step for newbs!

Hey guys, so I'm having some problems with the bash toy. It wasn't coming out of the PF so I figured the fuse was gone. It was, but before changing the fuse I wanted to know why it popped in the first place. So I removed the entire bash toy mechanism. It looks pretty good, but the mech was pretty tight. Looks like someone overtightened the nylon nuts despite all the warning stickers. Anyway, there is some play in the mech that has me concerned.

Before I get to it, can anyone tell me what size/type of screws are used to hold the bash toy in place? I'm missing some and others were the incorrect length and actually penetrated the top side of the PF.
What size and type of screws here?

Here is the play I mentioned in the bash toy. It seems to be leaning left. I'm thinking the bushings are worn out and need to be replaced, but since I'm not familiar with this pin I need to ask for opinions. Pics;
Please note the spacing on the left. Should there be a gap here?

Here's how it looks leaning to the left. No gap.

Here are some more showing just how much play there is. Take a closer look at the yellow warning sticker.

Straight. This is how I think it should look.

Leaning left. I am pretty sure it shouldn't do this.

Help?

Thanks. The #6-1/2 screws are the ones that screw into the T-nuts? There are two of them. Is this correct?

On page 98 of the manual it shows Item #3 (Bracket, Coil (Flipper) & Switch as "secured below the P/F: #8 x 1/2" SHWH (Qty 7). I don't get why it says qty 7 if two of them are #6 x 1/2" and 5 of them are #8 x 1/2". Sorry if that was confusing to read.

The steel rollers (bushings) are on each stud. There is quite a bit of play in them though. If I push on one side I can see a gap on the other side appear.

I will take some additional photos tomorrow. Thanks guys!

Here are the photos I promised. I'm pretty sure my steel bushings are no good and will need to be replaced.

You can see the gap between the bushing and the threaded rod.

The gap is more obvious when I push the bushing to one side.

Under the PF there are 5 mounting holes to secure the garage bracket. 3 use wood screws or what I guess are sheet metal screws (SHWH) in the manual. The top left, top right and bottom right. The two dark holes are the t-nuts located at the bottom right.

https://img-f.pinside.com/201503/2309548/375152-i.jpg

Zoomed in on the location of the t-nuts from under the PF;
20150315_103149.jpg

From the top of the PF (sorry for the crappy angle of the photo);
behind the two posts.

The screws for these two holes are the ones I am unsure of.

The bolt is attached to the actual bracket;
http://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=535-9600-00

I suppose I could drill it out and put my own bolt in.

They are available from Marco;
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/530-5695-00

So do you guys think the rollers are the root cause of the issue? Do any of you have play like this in your rollers?

Yeah, the description sucks I'll give you that. The part number is bang on though. One thing I'll give Stern, their manual is kick ass. It has everything in it! Very detailed. I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

Grease? You had grease on yours? Mine was bone dry. It just has those two shitty yellow slider stickers. I used some no drip, no mess teflon spray on it. I didn't think to spray the whole bracket, but I guess I could.

The design for this whole mechanism is terrible. Metal sliding on metal? Yeah, that will never wear down, especially after being bashed over and over again for 1000 games. What idiot approved that idea?

If the studs are worn then I'm thinking of installing a thin piece of plastic the full length of the bracket in between both pieces to keep it straight. I'm not paying Marco $95+shipping for a hunk of metal.

[EDIT] Sorry I misunderstood the spot you were talking about. I hope Cliffy makes some soon.

I've had this pin for a grand total of 4 days. I'm getting used to the sounds that are supposed to be there and the ones that are not. Two issues I'm working on right now (other than the garage issue).

1) Numerous times, normally during multiball, I'll end up with two balls ejected in the shooter lane. I am assuming this is not normal. The auto kicker will try to kick them into the raceway to join multiball, but it doesn't have enough kick to get them up to the magnet so one, or both balls will just roll back into the drain. I'm new to opto boards and the Stern trough system. Where should I start troubleshooting for an issue like this?

2) The auto kicker is weak. I have the PF lifted and it looks clean. Coil looks good. No binding and everything is smooth. I'm thinking it's the wrong coil because sometimes the kick doesn't manage to get the ball up to the first magnet. Is there anything specific I should look at?

Thank you for your time!

Ah... This explains no. 2) above. Thank you! I would not have though of this. This is the first time I've dealt with a auto-kicker.

The ball plunger was annoying the hell out of me so I took it apart last night to clean it. Man was it gummed up! I thought it might be bent, but it was just so dirty that it just wouldn't pull back smoothly. When I went to put it back together I decided to check the manual. I wanted to make sure I had the right spring, etc. In the manual it shows 3 spacer washers and 2 additional washers to hold the spring in place. The 2 for the spring were present, but the 3 spacer washers were MIA. I'm going to guess these are needed so the ball doesn't rest on the plunger.

plunger.png

Anyone have any ideas about 1) in my previous post???

I have zero right now. I'll check the clearance tonight.

The spring seems fine. I am familiar with what you mean by compressed over time. My F-14 Tomcat still had the original spring and it was pure slop. The one on my NASCAR is still very stiff. I think it's been replaced recently.

Do you find they get in the way when you plunge the ball? I had one on my F-14 and it kind of bothered me so I removed it. Later I discovered it was there to keep the plunger back a bit from the PF whenever you lift it. After removing the washer, the tip of the plunger rubs on the PF when I lift it up. In hindsight, I should have left it there.

Just saw this post. I will try this. I'm still getting use to the PORTAL system.

Reporting back on everything else… Okay, so the issue with the kicker is definitely the washers. I will need to go buy some at my local hardware store. The ball plunger isn't far enough back and it's stopping the kicker from making solid contact with the ball.

The garage… Man this thing is a piece of work. I am not a fan of this design at all. However, I did get it working. I took the entire thing apart and added some teflon spray to lube it up. The bushings/bearings are definitely worn and need replacing, but I replaced the fuse and at least the garage is now functional. I'll try to locate bushings locally, but if they are anything like the design of this thing they are probably "game specific" and I won't be able to find the right size. I did have a few SDTM ball returns from the garage, but I already have ideas on how to fix that.

I started shopping out my NASCAR last weekend. It plays well, but I just can't stand it when things don't operate or look their best. I'm doing a full teardown of the PF top and partial of the bottom (garage, magnets, etc.). There are a few areas on the PF that need a quick touch up.

As I'm disassembling things I started to notice something. Everything is white or clear. The star posts are white/clear. The regular posts are white/clear. The ramps, the pop bumper, even a ton of the inserts! How dull. Has anyone modded their NASCAR with colour? Replaced the star posts? Replaced the regular posts?

This is a fun pin, but I just find the overall art package and colours so blah. Generic "Test Car" signage, boring looking test car, generic Transporter plastic, generic hot dog sign, generic drop target signs, generic plastics and don't even get me started on the decals. What were they thinking with those decals.

To me, NASCAR is about colour. It is about corporate sponsorship and logos plastered everywhere. It's about driver numbers, car manufacturers and racing teams. NASCAR is in your damn face with everything.

I need to do something about this. Has anyone pimped their NASCAR with colour?

I am just getting familiar with this game, but the first thing I would do is check the two stand-up targets that are on the garage. Make sure they are gapped properly.

I don't like the look of this either. I always colour match inserts with LEDs. The person I bought the pin off of installed white LEDs for everything. It looks terrible. Everything is muted or yellow looking.

I like your mod to the Sat. Night sign. It's the sign that I have a problem with.

I use Comet LED's exclusively as well. I use 1 SMD and find them plenty bright. Under the PF I have 1 SMD with all clear dome's. I use red under the red inserts. Like you said, this really makes them pop. Under the white inserts I use 1 SMD white. Under orange I use 1 SMD warm white. Using orange under an orange insert makes them too dark. Warm white makes the orange inserts look like they do with regular incandescents except much much brighter. Yellow I haven't had the opportunity to play around yet with. I would try 1 SMD yellow first and go from there.

I plan on ordering the OCD board down the road. I have one in my F-14 Tomcat and I wouldn't do LEDs without one now. This product just makes everything so fluid and gives you so much more control over the lighting. Just an excellent product.

I like your thinking about the green and blue. Maybe I try swapping out the white star posts with another colour. There's a lot of blue in the PF, so blue would work. Green too now that I think of it.

For the Saturday Night sign. I'm not sure what my plans are. Right now I'm focused on the dropped targets. The sign above the drops is boring. The decals on the drops are worse. I was thinking of adding a Daytona logo to replace the sign and then have 5-0-0 on the drop targets. If I do up the graphics properly I really think it would make this area pop and add that much more NASCARness to the pin.

Did you use cool or warm white? I'm thinking warm is the way to go.

Will do about the sign above the drops. Right now I'm focused on tearing everything down.

Anyone know if this is the proper guide rail for a NASCAR Stern? This is the only part number I've been unable to find in the manual. Mine is chipped on both sides. I'd like to replace them.

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/545-5017-00

I got through a week and my OCD wouldn't let me go any further. This pin is playable, but not up to my standards. I started tearing it down.

20150328_205830.jpg

There are quite a few pieces that need fixing or replacing. My newton ball wireform is cracked. I thought those things were made of steel? I guess I was wrong. My ramps are broken in some pretty key areas. I could use them, but since they have already been removed I might look for replacements. Maybe I can vacuum form them?

20150328_205839.jpg
20150328_205820.jpg

I don't have a rotisserie, but so far it hasn't been too bad removing all the pieces.

The habitrails are fine. The newton wireform holds the captive balls. This is the part that is cracked.

Yeah it has had a hard life from the look of it. The trail of dirt in the outer loop is very deep. I haven't tried to clean it yet, but I'm hoping it isn't gouged.

Yes. http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/535-9522-00

More progress tonight…

20150329_160755.jpg

Here are a few of the playfield defects. Some of the decals on the inserts are letting go. Someone used a screw that was too long and put it through the top of the PF. Same on the other side, but it looks like they didn't go as far so it just pierced it. The last one is planking? On a PF that's only 9 years old???

20150329_160816.jpg

20150329_160831.jpg

20150329_160843.jpg

As great as this sounds I can't justify spending another $400 on a $3K pin for a PF. I would love to bling the hell out of this pin. I am a fan of NASCAR, but this pin just isn't worth more than $3K to the average joe. Spending $400 on a PF and then clearing it I can't justify as beautiful as that would be. Plus I'm in Canada and you guys in the States seem to have got your shit together and my dollar is worth crap again. That $400 PF is closer to $700 CAD after shipping and that's before the clear hits it.

Well, $400USD is $500CAD. Shipping is stupid though. I'd guess $75-$100 to my location. So $600 is more realistic. It's actually cheaper for me to ship to my US address and then drive 2 hours across the border to pick it up and pay the duty/taxes.

Mustang, if you could let your economy tank again it would really help out us Canucks.

If it's shipped USPS then sometimes I won't have to worry about duty or taxes. UPS? That's another story. Their brokerage fees are close to thievery. I once shipped a $200 iPod from NC to my house. Shipping was $30 (insured), brokerage was another $50 on top that, then the unavoidable taxes. UPS basically asks you to bend over. Since that day I have never used UPS. Brokerage fees are a joke. Any moron can fill out a Customs sheet. The bigger joke nowadays in eBay's Global Shipping Program, but that's another conversation.

I always request FedEx or USPS. Heck even DHL or Joe's Delivery. If the only option is UPS I look for another vendor. Marco's new shipping is almost as terrible.

For me to drive to the border it's about 1 hour. My US address is 10 minutes over the border. So in total I waste about 2 hours including pick up. There is a reason why companies like myusaddress dot ca exist. I'm paying .80 cents on your dollar. It's cheaper to drive down and pick it up. Especially large, bulky, heavy items.

What size Dale Jr. cars are those?

That isn't the mod add-on tach. Looks like one you did yourself. Am I wrong? It looks great, just curious on the cost. The mod is priced ridiculously. How much did this one cost and did it take you long to wire up?

I wish Hook would share how he created this. I wouldn't mind adding a mod similar to this using parts from my local auto supplier. I'm not a fan of the 'can' on the back of it.

FYI... I am working on making a negative mold to replace my left ramp. I may also do the right ramp as mine is cracked. The reason I'm working on the left first is because I've never done this before and it's the smaller ramp of the two. I am going to attempt to make one out of PETG. My main reason for doing this is because ramps for this game seem to be non-existent. Plus I don't want to pay $120-$150 for another cheap ramp that's just going to break again.

Also, I've contacted Cliffy about making ramp protectors for NASCAR. All I have to do is send him the templates. Stern actually sells metal ramp protectors already, but they cost an arm and a leg from Marco.

Guys, this is my first Stern. Could someone please explain to how the PF pivots work? How do you put mirror blades, or side art, or even a nice new coat of black paint on the cabinet without the pivots gouging the shit out of the sides of the cabinet and scratching everything to hell?

20150329_160957.jpg

This just seems like a stupid system to me. Why didn't they just stick with the pivot in a bracket?

So how do you guys keep the pivots from gouging the sides of the cabinet? You basically have to pull the PF out perfectly or you end up digging a line into the cabinet sides.

Fixed a hole in my PF that was bugging me. This is my first attempt at something like this. I was inspired by Drano over on Pinball Revolution.

Here's the hole that was bothering me.

Applying the Bondo. This is my first time using this stuff.

Bondo is dry. Ready to sand and paint.

Painted. I still need to seal it with water thin super glue and polish the hell out of it.

The colour is as close as I could get it. It's a better match in person. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Thanks guys!

Very cool. So if ColorDMD hasn't created a specific file for NASCAR you can still use it and just pick any colour from the palette? Are you able to create a colour file yourself? Apparently I don't know as much as I thought about ColorDMD.

Onto another subject…

For anyone needed a left ramp for their NASCAR, here is the official email I received back from Stern regarding this part not being available anywhere.

"Hi Tim. Thanks for getting in touch. We do have these ramps on order to send to our distributors. Since it’s a replacement part these runs get prioritized below our current production runs, but they should be back in distributor stock within 10 weeks, hopefully sooner!"

So 10 weeks. I don't know if I'm going to wait that long. Especially at $100+ for the ramp. Hmm...

Guys do you have a spacer like this installed on both of your slings? I am just putting mine back together and noticed only the left has one. Sorry for the blurry pic. It was on the front most post.

20150328_135246.jpg

Oh, and could I get someone to take a photo of their right ramp entrance for me? I have two black posts here that I think should be rubber, but they are not. They're just black plastic. This whole area just seems odd to me.

20150328_144126.jpg

Thanks!

Yes, there is a star post on each sling closest to the apron.

For your sling I take it you don't this white spacer either?

I can't tell from your ramp pic if the left and right entrances use black rubber or if it's hard plastic. Are they rubbers? Actually I can't tell anything from your pic because it's too dark and there are too many reflections. Sorry. Do you have the same photo but in the light with the machine off?

[EDIT]
Okay, I looked in the manual. Damn Stern puts together a fantastic manual! The left post for the right ramp is supposed to have a #6-32 in the top. No washer. Both posts get black rubber posts.

For the sling, that spacer isn't supposed to be there. I'm guessing at one point it was accidentally moved from the ball return guides. I'll know for sure when I put those back together.

….

While I'm in posting, does anyone have a spare lightning plastic for sale? It's the long weird shaped one that is along the left side of the right ramp. Mine is busted into 3 pieces. It's no. -17 in the manual.

I think that washer was added to protect the plastic that connects to the post. Well that failed big time.

Those bulbs are someone's sick idea of "100% LED'd PF and GI. All of the LEDs are flat top. EVen the flashers are 8SMD flat. All of them are white. They make the inserts sickly and washed out. Of all the things driving me crazy on this machine, the LEDs are the winner.

I have Comet 1SMD (no dome) under the PF of my F-14 Tomcat. Each insert is colour matched. I went through 3 different colour LEDs for the orange inserts until I discoved warm white. The GI is all 1 SMD with frosted domes. I have two LED strips (x7 leds) installed too. One in the Yagov tunnel, and one in the LAUNCH area. It just looks awesome. All of it controlled by a LED OCD. I wouldn't have LEDs without one. Best add-on I ever bought, next to LEDs of course.

Thanks!

Thanks Paul! That means a lot. I spent a lot of time trying to balance the lighting on my F-14. I overspent on LEDs and had a lot leftover after the swap but I am 100% happy with my pin.

One thing I haven't done is the flashers. There is something I just enjoy about the old #89 bulbs. Have you updated the flashers on NASCAR or any other pins?

Guys, did NASCAR originally come with incandescent bulbs? I have these sickly white LEDs under the entire PF so I thought I'd switch some of them out to get the true colour of the inserts showing. I put in about 20 and switched on the machine. One word - gross. The yellow inserts looked almost orange. The white just looked dirty. I put the sickly white LEDs back.

This is the first time I've turned on the machine in over 2 months. I had been tearing it down to clean it and make some minor repairs. So the "you are just use to the sickly looking LEDs" does not apply here.

Yeah, only 20 under the PF. I just wanted to see what the game looked like stock. I didn't like the look of it at all. So then I started playing around with some of the leftover LEDs I have. Trying a warm white here, a cold white there. I even tossed a blue into a few of the white inserts just to see. I'm just experimenting right now. Then I'll place an order with Comet (including the LED OCD).

Anyway, the incandescents looked terrible in it so I took them out. Yes I still have the crappy flat top dome LEDs in the game. They are the main reason I'm experimenting with my leftovers. I swapped out the reds. The reds look great colour matched. The orange needs warm white for sure. I don't know what to do with the yellow inserts. Warm and cool white look sickly. I didn't have a yellow 555 LED bulb that I could try. I'll might just take a battery, connect it to one of the yellow 44/47 LEDs I have and stick it under the PF to see what it looks like.

Under the PF? I was using clear dome. Usually I use the domeless but I didn't have any left.

I'm really having a hard time with the yellow inserts. I just don't like the colour. It's a greenish yellow, not a pure yellow.

Do you have all red LEDs under the Collect R-A-C-E, Speed Shots, 250K, 300K???

Hey guys, the ball trough assembly on my pin seems to have a hard time putting a ball into the shooter lane. Sometimes the coil puts the ball into the shooter lane without any problems. Sometimes it tries and fails and has to re-try, other times it connects so well with the ball that I think it's going to smash the pin leveller and go through the side of the pin.

It does work, but man it sounds like it is having a hard time. The inside of the trough assembly scoop is free of obstructions and clean.

Is this a common problem with Stern pins? I remember playing Metallica and every time it put a ball into the plunger lane it sounded like hell too.

I should also mention that on rarer occasions, it will barely manage to put the ball into the shooter lane and then it'll put another ball there right afterwards so I'll end up with 2 and sometimes even 3 balls ready to be plunged. I believe this is a separate issue, but I wanted to be thorough in my description.

Thank you. This is very helpful. I did have the entire pin taken apart to shop it. I was careful to check the welds and they are still holding. There is a weld on the garage that has broken, but none on the ball trough.

I will take a look at the opto boards. This is my first game that has optos so I wasn't sure how to service them. I see there is a section in the manual on how to do this. I will also try reflowing the solder to the opto boards as you stated.

When you say "replacing the connectors" do you mean replace the entire opto board?

You can order these separately???

I haven't delved into the ball trough yet. Instead I decided to look at the garage. You guys might remember my earlier posts about the "gap" or "play" I had in the garage mechanism. Well I tried ordering new bushings, but I'm limited up here in Canada as far as part shops. Marco is the best place to order but ever since they switched over to that Global Shipping shipping costs are completely nuts for Canadians. I place my orders through Starburst and then split the shipping costs with others. Anyway… long story short I took apart the garage today.

I decided the best way to fix the slop in the garage was to insert a shim on the bearing side. I started looking around work for a piece of metal that would work. I had to try a few different ones before I found one that was the correct width and the proper fit. I inserted the thin metal into the mech, added some teflon spray, and then tightened everything back down (as per the manual warnings). I then decided to resolder the switch that tells the game that the garage is up or down. My garage had been bouncing up/down constantly. Up 3 times after hitting the START button for a game. Start a mode in the Garage and the garage popped up only to go back down and then up again. Needless to say it was annoying as hell. I removed all the crap soldering someone had done, re-stripped the wiring, tinned everything and then soldered everything back in.

I fired up the game and the Garage just sat in the PF. Crap I thought. It's broke. But I decided to start up a game anyway. The ball looped around the track and hit the Test Car as it exited the loop. To my surprise the Garage popped right up! I fired the ball into the Garage and started Bump n' Run. The ball ejected right onto my LEFT flipper! Sweet! I managed to get multiball almost immediately, and two CHAMP letters. Another few Garage modes and my game was done. Just over 78,000,000. My record high!

This game is soooooo enjoyable with a properly functioning Garage. I was having the SDTM problem due to the slop in the mech and it was so bad that I was just not having any fun playing. I ended up playing all evening and managed to finally get my name in lights twice! My son, who is 6, also put up his best game at just over 6,000,000.

I'll try to take a few pics tomorrow of what I did with the Garage slop. My goal is to figure out how to get all the Champ1 letters now. I wasn't able to figure them all out.

*Fifty goes off in search of the shot chart for the game* swampfire?

I did this last night too. After playing a few games I ended up with two balls in the plunger lane. The VUK kicked the ball up to the plunger lane, but failed. It fell back down into the VUK, but the ball trough had already sent another ball into the VUK so now two balls were sitting on top of the VUK and it fired two balls into the plunger lane. WTF?!

This is my main reason for getting NASCAR. Before I just had the 1 pin, now I have 2. 3 for me would be ideal (with one in storage so that I could rotate them in/out and so that my wife didn't know).

Here are the pictures I promised with my hack fix on the Garage;
the black strip of metal is about 3mm-4mm thick

view from straight on

assembled, the metal strip is not visible on top of the PF

I'm still having difficulties with SDTM. It was good yesterday, but seems to be back. Maybe I'm just noticing more whenever it happens? I want a permanent fix for this issue. One that doesn't involve jamming a chunk of something in the Garage VUK. The pin was designed to eject the ball to the left flipper and I want to stay true to that. There must be something that will realign this without looking like crap.

Oh, and I noticed a couple spot welds are broken on my Garage mech. I put the mech in test mode and fired a bunch of balls from it. The metal doesn't shift, or flex at all. Other than holding the unit together the broken welds don't seem to impact the direction of the ball eject.

broken weld on the back of the VUK

broken weld inside of the VUK

Yeah, I'm not too worried about the welds. I can figure that out. Even if it's just a quick stop into a Mom n' Pop shop to do the weld touch-ups. It's the SDTM crap that I'm trying to figure out. There has to be a better fix for this. The threads on Pinside are either hacks or are not descriptive enough (no photos) to show what was done. The main problem I have with all the solutions is that they don't really resolve the problem. Each solution is a fix for the problem and everyone just assumes that the problem is bad design. If that was the case, then all NASCAR machines would have this issue, but not all of them do. I would like to find out the root cause.

For your first issue, it sounds like one of the micro switches in the ball trough has gone bad. If you drain inbetween the flippers, does the VUK fire? The VUK sends the ball out of the drain into the ball trough. If that fires, and I'm guessing it does it is one of the micro switches in the trough that is the issue. My guess would be the one farthest from the plunger.l

For your second issue it sounds like something is obstructing the switch. This should be pretty easy to test. Turn the game off. Now all you have to do is push on the car with your finger. You should hear an audible click. If there isn't a click it's a bad switch. If there is, then determine how far you need to push on the car with your finger for it to make that audible clicking sound. If the car has to be the entire way back then all you need to do is adjust the switch trigger.

Figure out if the VUK fires. If it doesn't then the ball will never make it into the ball trough which would mean a ball is missing and the ball search would begin. The switches in the trough are not meant to be adjusted.

Put your ear right down to the car. You should hear it click. It doesn't matter if the switch clicks when the car is up. That never happens during gameplay. Test the switch while the car is down in switch test mode. Use a ball to test it.

Nah, I'm still around too. You guys haven't gotten rid of me that easily.

A pin buddy of mine decided to sell his minty WH20 and offered it up to me first. I couldn't pass on this opportunity. My two pin limit meant NASCAR had to go, but I enjoy the game and I see myself getting another one down the road.

It's a great game that is not valued enough. BMHouze it was great to meet you. Please contact me if you have any problems.

I'm slowly wearing my wife down. I started with one pin. Then two. Next year I'll push three. There is talk of us moving to her hometown. If that happens the floodgates are open!

My wife still gives me that look when I tell her the longest relationship I ever had was with my Jeep Cherokee (11 years). We have only been married for 8.

I guess my only question would be: Why didn't you already have one of these?

Wow, that looks great! I totally miss my NASCAR.

Good luck finding the plastics. I never found them and I looked for 6 months including overseas. I even emailed Stern and they replied with "We'll get to them when things have slowed down a bit". That was almost a year ago, and based on the number of pins they are pushing out they will never get to them. Same goes for the ramps. You're better off spending your time creating one yourself using PEGI and water decals.

The checkered flag is a sticker, but it is one of those very thick and stiff stickers that is more plastic than paper. It's the same material as the stickers on the spinners.

Unfortunately I've sold my NASCAR. I still lurk here though and help out where I can.

Decals are out of stock.

That ramp is the upper part of the right ramp. That piece rarely breaks. It's the main PF ramp on the left and right that crack.

Sorry, no. I sold this game a while back. I wouldn't hold your breath on Stern re-running the parts either. They told me they'd do it when they had time. They're cranking out 3 new pins a year so I doubt they will EVER have time. Pretty shitty if you ask me.

1. They are not supposed to be welded to each other.

2. That plastic is from the left side of the right ramp. It's the longest plastic in the game (not including the clears). It is plastic no. 17.

3. The 'engines' are very easy to remove. The one in the front I found was much easier than the one in the back. Label all the connectors (if they aren't already labelled). Maybe a 20 minute job to remove if you go slowly.

That is the dirtiest subway I've ever seen.

The ramps on NASCAR are the biggest pain in the ass about the pin. They all come off as one monstrous piece. It's a nightmarish hell. Oh, and don't crack or break any of the ramps because Stern is never going to redo them. I had NASCAR for 6 months. The parts were never available. Not in NA, EU, or in AU. I contacted Stern and they told me they would "do a run when they are not as busy". So don't hold your breath. That was almost a year ago.

The opto wires are fragile. Obviously remove them by pulling the connector, not by the wires. Just be gentle. Section 4 Chapter 2 Pages 94-95 explains a few things you should know about the magnet coils.

The metals are shown on Section 4 Chapter 2 Pages 102. The one with the rubber grommet attaches to the directly to the ramp. The orientation is a little weird, but just pretend you are the ball and it will make sense.

The second metal you are showing I believe is on Page 103. Part no. 18 (Plate, Left Ramp Retention) 535-9755-00. It's installed by the motor but I can't remember how.

I'll have to get NASCAR back someday.

I bought some water decals and PEGI to build mine own but never got around to it. I'm sure there are a few owners that would like to have this one replaced.

Lock your first ball. Before you plunge the second ball hit the left flipper button. This will open pit row for an easy second ball lock and you'll get a "Good thinking!" from the announcer. Shhh! It's a secret of the game.

I don't know the answer to this one. So in multiball pit row opens? It's been a while since I've owned the game, but I don't remember that happening.

Some things are best left discovered. Oh, and you never asked.

Does it just keep spinning?

Make sure the magnets are properly aligned with the PF and the metal ball guides. Sling your finger over the path of the ball and see if there is anything misdirecting the ball. Test it with a ball. Listen for the sound to change as the ball goes through the magnet and comes out on the other side. It should be perfectly smooth the whole way through.

Test mode would be the first step. Test all the switches.

That blue is fantastic! Great choice!

You won't find one. I looked for over a year for one and no luck. Stern said they'd start making them when they had time but they are never going to have enough time. What has the world come to when I can buy ramps for a 1990's Williams game but I can't buy a new ramp for a 2005 Stern game? Maybe Freeplay40 would consider making them?

See my thread here for this issue. I had similar difficulties.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/is-an-auto-kicker-suppose-to-do-this

Check to see if you have 3 washers installed as well. This is the way NASCAR shipped from Stern.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/nascargrand-prix-owner-and-fan-club?tq&tu=Fifty#post-2314649

b5de6f2f03e3d02abf3b7d17f1fb8a44c8987d62.png (resized).jpg

Looks good Paul! Nice plane too!

Pics or it didn't happen.

BMHouze that's just a shim I put in there to discourage lateral movement as you said. It is not actually part of the garage assembly.

The garage on NASCAR can absolutely wreck the game. If the garage isn't working the game is no fun at all. Thankfully the entire assembly is very easily removed from under the PF.

If I ever get another NASCAR back I'm going to put all my new 3D printing knowledge to work to find better fixes for people that have malfunctioning garages. I really enjoyed the game and I know I'll have it again someday.

I remember it doing this. Originally I thought is was an error but then I realized the game is checking to see what position the garage is in. The garage may have been up when the game lost power. The only way it knows is to raise/lower the garage and reset itself.

Which rubber?

I wish I could help BMHouze and I'm sorry you're going through so much difficulty with the garage.

I am really trying to follow your troubleshooting here, but I'm finding it very confusing, and I'm re-reading it just to try to make sense of it. Maybe I'm just not understanding what you are doing or maybe it's because your posting information spoken by your technician and there are some bits of information being lost in translation.

There are only two things that could be wrong with the garage.

1) Mechanical
2) Electrical

If it's a mechanical issue you will feel the garage binding when you slide it up and down. It won't lock into the upright position or it won't go back down. If it's a mechanical issue, I would check for weld cracks, warping, worn bearings, and grime. If the garage is sliding smoothly and easily and you are positive it is not a mechanical issue then I would move onto checking electrical.

If it's an electrical issue then it can only be the coils or the switch. The switch is easy enough to test. Go into switch test mode and play with the switch. Move the garage the way it would in a game to see if the switch reacts as it should. If not, then use the schematics to follow up the path to the prior component and so on and so on. If you believe it's a coil, then go into test mode and see if the coils are firing properly. If not then trace the path in the schematic to the part further up the component path.

I feel your troubleshooting is a bit all over the place. I hope this helps you out a bit.

This reminds me of people buying HDMI cables for their TVs. A $100 HDMI cable is no better signal-wise that a $6 cable. It's digital. It's 1's and 0's. On or off. Working or not working. No disrespect to your tech but you can't flush the bad data out with good data behind it.

The game is telling you something is up with switch 39 so focus on switch 39 first and don't work on anything else until this error has cleared.

I can't tell if you are being serious or not. 4K is just an advertising term. Pretty much every 4K monitor advertised is actually UHD. Your $6 HDMI cable will work just as well as your $100 HDMI cable. The only difference in the cables will be build quality and brand name but the signal will be the same.

Ack! What have you got spliced up there?

The start button is not on the Grand Prix or NASCAR versions. For Dale Jr. I guess that added one to make it closer to how they start a racecar? I am not familiar with the bulb type. Take a quick look in the manual. It's downloadable from Stern last I checked.

That ramp protector is a myth! I saw it on Marco for some astronomical price. Cliffy said he'd make me one if I sent him a template, but I sold my NASCAR before it happened. That is probably your best bet.

The right ramp will never be reproduced by Stern again either. Two years ago I asked them about it and they told me in a few weeks. I think the actual email I sent and the reply I got back are within the posts in this forum somewhere.

I'm not 100% sure what you mean by this. I think you are saying it in jest, with a thin line of I screwed you over.

Any issues I ever had with this game are fully disclosed in the walls of this thread. The garage is a very common and well-known design problem with this game and I discussed the lack of replacement parts numerous times within this thread as well. I hid nothing.

The game worked 100% when I sold it to you. I even drove 4 hours to meet you. Now I'm trying to assist with troubleshooting. I think I've gone well above and beyond here. Personally, I think you need a second opinion from another technician.

I would have been willing to buy the game back from you but honestly I'm worried as to what has been done to it.

I spoke to him. The current setup is too small for the large right ramp (it's fine for the left one) and the demand for this ramp is not there.

You definitely need to swap that transistor out before it becomes viral and infects the entire board. It's a bit odd the way it corroded on you. Definitely examine the rest of the board(s) and look for more green fuzzy stuff. It all needs to be cleaned with baking soda/water/isopropyl or whatever you are comfortable with.

I contact him about ramp protectors back when I had this machine. He was more than willing to do them up, just needed a template to work from. Marco has them, but they are stupid expensive. Like $60+ bucks.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=nascar+ramp

I will back up Paul on this. Non-ghosting is the way to go. If you still get flickering in the odd bulb then you can tweak the settings to eliminate it. I have had 3 LED OCD boards and only ever saw flickering on 1 LED in my F-14. A simple tweak and no more flicker. For reference, I was using 1SMD bulbs from Comet.

I would have to agree with this as well. I tried colour matching the LEDs and I think the previous owner of the pin swapped some of them out too, but the yellows and the inserts in general are different from other inserts I've seen and tend to look under or over-saturated.

MustangPaul those white leg lights look great. I hope I get to see them IRL some day.

I would have to see the generic crowd ones installed before having an opinion of them. That shifter knob looks cool. Not $110 cool, but cool. My OCD would constantly be rotating the plunger to keep it aligned properly. I could never have a non-symmetrical plunger.

Exactly what I would be doing. It needs to be keyed or something so it doesn't rotate.

Translite? Alt translite? Got any pics?

I had forgotten about that. You're welcome.

I would like to get back into this club, but even NASCAR has been priced out of my range now.

Wish Stern would run these again, but they won't. Not enough money in it for them.

You're best bet is to make your own.

Has anyone seen this marketplace ad? I can't believe it's a legit ad. What is NASCAR selling for in the USA? Up here in Canada it's closer to $4K now so to see one selling in NY at $2K ($3K CAD after taxes) is almost too good to be true.

Anyone know the seller?
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/81115

What's the going rate on NASCAR in the USA?

For anyone reading that's $3500 CAD (it case you had not clued in).

BMHouze You thinking of selling for real? That is a seriously nice offer. I know you have had issues with the garage. NASCAR can be soul ripping when it comes to the garage. Any other issues with it?

I am thinking seriously about it. Give me a day or two to get back to you. I need to check my funds. I'll PM you so as not to hijack this thread.

My guess is that yours had a car and it was either damage or lost and replaced with the checkerboard plastic.

I never understood why silver was chosen. Maybe it looks better on the Dale Jr. or Grand Prix versions with silver???

Looks awesome. Well done.

Yes, this is correct. That's exactly where this goes. Looks like yours has broken free from the ramp. You'll have to figure out a new way to mount it or replace the entire ramp.

Sounds like the cam lock is turning but the latch on the other side is not. I had this happen on a Transporter I was working on. I had to drill out the lock, but sometimes you can get lucky and just keep rotating the key and the latch will turn. It's mostly a feel thing. If you are positive it is the correct key for the back box (many keys will fit but won't turn the tumblers). Cam locks are notoriously easy to pick. Check YouTube for help if you are against pulling out your drill.

1) I found Marco was the best for NASCAR.
2) Yes and yes.

Nice art blades. Nicest ones I've seen. The generic checkered flag ones from other vendors don't do anything for me.